A Quiet Evening
by jayne-190
Summary: Bones spends a quiet evening, thinking and contemplating. Set shortly sometime after Season 6 finale.
1. Chapter 1

A Quiet Evening

Premise: Bones spends a quiet evening, thinking and contemplating. Set shortly sometime after Season 6 finale

A/N: I own none of the characters involved in this story.

••••••••

She shut and locked the door behind her; the deafness of the quiet apartment was a stark contrast to the usual din that she experienced at either the diner or at The Founding Fathers that she and Booth quite often frequented after completing a day of work. Today she needed to be alone; everything was starting to crowd in on her and she needed to be alone. Between Vincent's death, the birth of Hodgins and Ange's son, and her pregnancy, she was starting to feel overwhelmed and like she was drifting through a slight fog.

She set he keys, bags, and the Thai take-out she had gotten on her way home on the kitchen counter before heading to her room to change into a pair of sweats and an over-sized sweatshirt. Bones was planning a quiet evening with some Thai food, a glass of white grape juice, and a movie. She turned off her cell for the first time in quite sometime. True, she did have a landline available at home, but most people she knew would usually contact her on her cell anyways.

Bones loathed watching anything on TV, except for the odd documentary, and most evenings she usually spent at the lab, catching up on the paperwork that seemed to pile up on her desk during the day or the course of a case or if she were at home, she would write on her latest Kathy novel, if she hadn't gone out with Booth or her colleagues from the lab. But tonight was different. She wanted to what Booth called veg. She had been confused at first by his comment, but once Cam had explained what the phrase meant, she understood what Booth was referring to. After letting out a sharp breath, she made her way to the kitchen and put her meal together. After rummaging around in the utensil drawer, she found a set of unused chopsticks and made her way to the couch in front of the massive TV that Booth had purchased a number of months ago, much to her dismay.

Not one to usually eat dinner in front of her not much used TV, she put down her meal and picked up a remote that turned the TV and then went through the Netflix queue to find a movie to lose herself in for a couple of hours. Booth had set up the system a few months ago; especially Parker had wanted to watch something one evening that she was looking after him while Booth had been on a date with Hannah. Why Rebecca hadn't been to look after Parker that particular evening she didn't know why, but Bones had suspected that Rebecca had been out of town that particular weekend and Booth had forgotten to make other arrangements, especially finding a sitter for Parker. And since everybody else he knew had had plans and she didn't, Bones had been asked to look after Parker. She didn't mind having Parker over, as he came over quite a bit to use the pool in her building, but she didn't exactly have the most child-friendly apartment. Sure she had a few toys available for when her nieces came over, but it wasn't a large selection; usually they brought over their own entertainment or they went for an evening out. Parker had entertained himself as best as he could for a bit, but as the evening wore on, he started to get a little bored. Bones had tried everything possible to make him entertained, but knew little of how to entertained a preteen, or a tween as they were called in some circles, for a long period of time. Bones had phoned a number of her male colleagues, including Hodgins, asking what she should do. On a number of occasions, she had either gotten voicemail or had interrupted whatever they had been doing at the time, but getting advice that ended up being useless. Eventually she and Parker had put in a DVD on her computer and had a somewhat pleasant evening.

Flicking through the queue, she couldn't find anything that she wanted to watch. Bones moved over to a bookcase that held a number of DVDs. Most of them were work-related or documentaries, but she had a number of movies available at her disposal. Most of them were of Booth's choosing, but there were a few of her own choosing, but there were a few of her own choosing. Soon there would likely be a small selection of children's movies, but that wouldn't for a few years, if she could help it. Just the thought of children's DVDs on her bookcase interspersing her own made her unconsciously move her right hand to her abdomen area. Even though she thought her child in technical, scientific terms for the majority of the day, Bones occasionally caught herself thinking about her child in purely emotional terms, even though she was still in her first trimester.

Returning her focus to the DVDs, she picked up one that had caught her eye; it wasn't one that she exactly loved, but it was a good pick up when she needed it. The movie was intelligent, but it was also funny and a bit irreverent at times during the film. Bones didn't really care tonight what she was watching; she just wanted something that could lull her to sleep and make her forget everything that happened in the past few weeks, especially more than she would admit to anybody. Booth had tried to talk about Vincent's death in the last few weeks, but she didn't want to open up to him as to how she was really feeling. Somehow he knew that she was still somewhat emotionally fragile and still needed some time to comprehend Vincent's death and that it would take time for her make more sense of it.

She let out a sharp sigh and realizing that she was still holding the DVD she had just selected from the bookcase, she walked over and put the DVD in. After she managed to get her movie started, Bones picked up her plate and resettled herself on the couch, allowing to be succumbed to the movie.

••••••

About two hours later, dinner had been finished and Bones was stretched across the couch, snuggled underneath a light blanket and absorbed in the movie. Her body and mind were starting to relax and feel somewhat normal again; she could feel the tension in muscles start to relax and loosen.

She never realized how tense the last month had been for her until she had finally been able to relax. Between the Brodsky case, the birth of Ange and Hodgins' son, the death of Vincent, the other cases that she and Booth had undertaken and the telling Booth of her pregnancy, it had been hectic and rarely had she been able to take time for herself; it had been a rare moment that she had had to relax and let the tension release from her body. Sure she had been able to catch a moment here and there, but she never had had this amount of time available to her without her phone ringing.

With the movie now rolling the final credits, Bones moved to grab the remote and turn off the TV and DVD player. The relative silence of the apartment shocked her and sounded good all at the same time, with the faint sounds of sirens off in the distance; she couldn't discern what sort of vehicle it was, but it probably wither was a police vehicle or an ambulance. Allowing the sounds to wash over her, she closed her eyes and moved the blanket down to her hips. Bones placed her hands on her abdomen, wondering what the child would be like when s/he was born. Sure she knew how the embryo was developing and what sort of features were being developed and starting to show, if any, but she wanted to know what sort of eye and hair colour the child would have, what its facial structure would look like, would the child be more like her or Booth or would it be a mixture of two of them, etc. Even though she wasn't religious like Booth, she was starting to consider it a miracle and a thing of wonder. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to imagine what her child would look like.

The thought made her slightly panic for a moment. Her child. A tear slid down her cheek. It was the first time she realized her mom wouldn't be there for an important milestone in her life. While it had been hard when she had graduated from high school and college with her various degrees, they had only been brief moments of sadness and disappointment as she saw her fellow grads surrounded by family and other loved ones. But this time she felt the loneliness a bit more acutely. Sure she would have Booth, her dad, Ange and Hodgins, and her other colleagues to support her during the pregnancy, but she wouldn't have her mom to answer the questions that she knew she would have. Ange could probably answer all of her questions and the same with Booth and her dad, but it wouldn't be the same. Her mom should have been here, making sure she had everything, reassuring her and just being there for her when needed. Ange would be busy with Michael; Cam probably didn't know much what to do during a pregnancy; Rebecca could be useful, but they weren't exactly close; and Booth, was well, Booth. Probably for the first time since her mom had left that Christmas when she was 15, she wanted her desperately; wanting to tell her that she was pregnant and for her to hug her and congratulate her and make something for the child that she was carrying.

A light knock on her door broke her thoughts. She blinked her eyes several times, not really sure of what was going on. The knock came again, a little more louder and forceful than the first time.

"Coming," she said as she threw off the blanket and readjusted her ponytail holder to hold her hair more securely.

Another knock came, again a little louder than the second one. "I said I'm coming," she said as she quickly moved her way to the door. She took a quick glance through the peephole to see who it was; it was Booth, the last person she expected to show up at her door at this hour on a Friday.

She took a deep breath and unlocked the door. "Hi Booth," she said as she opened the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you had Parker over this weekend."

"Parker had something come up and I wanted to see how you were doing; you weren't answering your cell."

"I'm fine, Booth; just wanted a quiet night alone. Now if you could…" her voice trailed off.

"Leave you alone?" He finished off the sentence.

She swallowed sharply. "I would very much appreciate it," Bones said in her matter-of-face voice.

They were quiet for a moment, as a neighbour passed Booth in the hallway, before Bones continued. "How did you know I was at home?"

Booth took a sharp breath in. "Cam mentioned it when I dropped by the office when I dropped by the office earlier, after you had left."

Her eyebrows knit together; she was annoyed. "Why were you at the office after I had left?"

Booth sighed. "I had some paperwork that I need you to sign off on; it can wait until Monday."

She eyed him suspiciously ; she knew that he wanted to know how she was holding up, especially since her morning sickness had been particularly bad this past week. Taking a deep breath, she knew the last thing she should do was keep Booth in the dark, especially when she was carrying his child; telling him that she was pregnant was difficult enough. "You want to come in?"

He took a deep breath. "Whatever."

"What do you mean by whatever?"

"I mean whatever you want, Bones."

She took another deep breath, the anxiety and panic starting to build up slightly. "So do you want to come in or not, cause we could continue this conversation out here for the neighbours to hear. Of course if we go inside, we can have a more private conversation."

He let out a sharp sigh. "Inside." She could tell that her line of questioning was annoying him.

••••••••••••

A/N: So what did you think? Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

A Quiet Evening

Premise: Bones spends a quiet evening, thinking and contemplating. Set shortly sometime after Season 6 finale.

A/N: I own none of the characters involved in this story. This is purely for entertainment purposes.

A/N #2: Sorry for the delay; life got in the way.

She closed the door behind them. "Can I take your jacket?" Bones knew that he probably wouldn't want to take his jacket off, but it was the least she could do.

He shook his head. "You okay, Bones?" His voice had an edge of concern to it.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fine." Bones moved into the living room, picked up the discarded blanket and sat on the couch, looking away from Booth. She hoped that it would prevent Booth from asking her questions that would likely make her irrational and emotional. She wasn't okay and didn't want to admit it to Booth; she wanted to avoid giving him any sort of look that might give her true feelings away.

He sat down close by her, quietly sitting, waiting for her to fess up that she wasn't fine, that she was more worried than she would admit to. A sob was threatening to let loose. "Bones?" His voice broke the silence.

"Yeah?" She could feel her eyes starting to well up and her fingers starting to loosen their grip on the blanket.

"Are you sure you are okay?" She looked up and saw the concern etched in his face. Whenever Booth got that look, she knew that she wouldn't be able to hide much from his questions; six plus years of partnership and friendship was making it harder to hide from him how she was feeling.

She shrugged. "I don't know, Booth; I don't know if I am okay." Tears were starting to make their way down her face. Booth moved closer to her and gathered her into his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder and grabbed his jacket with her hands. As she cried quietly into the fabric of his leather jacket, she could feel Booth's hand stroke her back and his breath against her cheek.

Bones could faintly hear him whisper that it was going to be okay. If only it was that simple and if only he knew why she was feeling the way she was tonight; while she wasn't one to easily express her feelings on a regular basis, when she did express them, it was usually due to that they were about to spill over and there was nothing she could do to keep them in. The time that she had told Booth that she loved him, albeit in a roundabout way, about six months ago came to mind.

The tears eventually subsided and she managed to wriggle herself free, grabbing a tissue to relieve the pressure that had built up in her nose. After wadding the used tissue into a ball and tossing it onto her empty plate, Bones looked up at Booth, hoping to find some sort of sympathy and understanding. Instead she was faced with his concern.

"What's wrong, Bones?" He said gently as he touched her knee and gently stroked it; she could feel the tears coming on again. Tonight it wasn't taking much for her to cry; the emotions were especially raw and uncomfortable tonight. She wanted to rationalize everything tonight and irrationality was reigning supreme tonight. She noticed Booth's thumb wiping away a tear that had started to make its way down her face. "Whatever's wrong, we can fix it, ok?" She looked deep into his soft brown eyes, seeing the immense care in them; it was almost enough for the waterworks to start again.

She shook her head, knowing that it couldn't just be fixed in the way Booth clearly thought it could be fixed: if only she could just tell him what was bothering her. Sometimes the only thing that was best was just not to fix the situation and let it be. "You can't." She chocked back a sob.

"Then what is it?" He asked the question so tenderly and with so much care as he reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. While Booth appeared to have a bit of a gruff exterior, he was an incredibly gentle and thoughtful person and also quite vulnerable, once a person got to know him. He would never push her to do or say things that he knew that she wasn't comfortable; Booth knew when something was bothering her that it would eventually surface and he gave her time and space to do so. He was the person that she would turn to when she felt vulnerable and unsure of herself and knew that he would be there no matter what. Even though she had a strong friendship with Angela, Booth was her anchor and her guide; her best friend and somebody over the past six years that she had fallen deeper and deeper in love with, despite the fact that they had had their differences and would continue to have their differences. But she could look past those differences and see the sort of individual he was and how he not only cared for his friends and colleagues and family, but for his son that he barely saw. She knew how hard it was on Booth not to have Parker around all the time and how he wanted to create a positive family environment for him, despite the circumstances between him and Rebecca.

Bones looked out the window to the darkened street below her to collect her thoughts. How was she to explain that one person that she wanted to be there had been dead for almost 20 years? Booth would of course mention Rebecca as somebody that she could rely on for advice, but the relationship between the two of them was strained at the best of times and she didn't think that Rebecca would want to give advice to the mother of Booth's second child. It also didn't help that she didn't know Rebecca that well. She took a deep breath, knowing that the only way for Booth to understand what was bothering her tonight was to express, closing her eyes before she continued. "I want my mom to be around." The tears started to well up again.

Booth's thumb once again tried to wipe away the tears; his eyes were full of love and concern. "I bet you do." His voice was soft and gentle, but also understood enough to know that he didn't need to say anything more. He wrapped his arms around her again and stroked her hair gently. While the tears did come down, they weren't coming down in the same way that they had come down before; being wrapped around his arms had always felt like she was in a cocoon and could soothe and calm her.

"I know that she is dead and she has been out of my life since I was 15 and I have for the most part moved on with my life without her, I just want her to be around now. I want her to…" Her voice trailed off and she could feel the tears starting to make their way down her face. Booth didn't need to say anything; just being here was enough at this point.

While she had been able to rationalize her mother's death a number of years ago, she had never truly allowed herself to fully grieve her mother's death. "It's going to be okay," Booth whispered reassuringly into her ear.

The next few minutes passed quietly between them, the faint ticking of a clock and the fridge running were the only distinct sounds made. In her mind she knew that it would be okay, but her heart said otherwise. "I want my mom, Booth," she said, her nose stuffy and her cheeks still slightly wet from the crying. She was calming herself down, slowly.

He squeezed her a little tighter, letting her know quietly that he understood where she was coming from and that he was there for her, as he brushed aside some of the hair that had fallen across her face. He didn't need to say anything more. "You miss her, don't you?" His voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

She could faintly feel her head nodding.

She couldn't find the words to form properly. The room fell silent again for a few moments. She could feel the rhythmic and even breathing of Booth. "This is the first time that I have truly missed her, Booth." Water started to well up in eyes. If she were at work, she would have become hyper-rational and set aside her emotions; but somehow with Booth it was okay. It was probably a comfort more than anything. "She would have been so excited, Booth." She let out a deep breath, letting the scent of Booth's cologne waft over her for a moment before she moved back to her seat and grabbing yet another tissue to blow her nose.

"I am so sorry, Booth; I don't know where this came from." She threw the wadded up ball onto the plate. All she knew was that she was tired and just wanted to go to bed and just go to sleep; she wasn't just emotionally spent, she was also physically spent.

She could see that he wanted more than anything to make sure that everything was going to be okay, but couldn't do much more than he was doing at the moment and it was frustrating him. The last thing she wanted was to burden him with her problems, make him more worried.

"It's okay, Bones," his voice was reassuring and calm.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes again. If there had been a constant this particular evening it had been her crying; she knew that hormones changed during pregnancy and that it was likely to be an emotional roller coaster, feeling things that she was able to put in compartments and able to rationalize. Now it was just a big mess. "I know."

"You sure you're going to be okay, cause I can…"

She swallowed. "I'll be fine, Booth." The tears were close to pouring out, but she somehow managed to hold them in. Bones could sense that Booth knew she wasn't okay and that she was only putting up a front, hoping that he wasn't noticing the turmoil that she was experiencing, but she knew that it wasn't that case; Booth could see right through it and knew that she wasn't. She walked with him to the door and leaned in to give him a hug. Being in his arms for whatever length felt as though she was safe and belonged.

"You sure?" He clearly wasn't convinced that she would be okay.

"Yes, I'll be fine; you don't have to worry about me. Now go home; don't need you hovering over me to make sure that I'll be okay."

He eyed her suspiciously as he opened up the door and rummaged through his pockets to find his keys. "Its just that…"

"You're concerned. I know you are. I'll be fine." Inside she knew that she wouldn't be fine and that she would spend most of the night crying and worrying, something that wasn't at all typical of her.

"Okay." He clearly wasn't convinced that she would be okay. "If you need to talk, you know where to reach me."

Even though his voice was calm and collected, she knew that he was concerned about her and wanted beyond all certainty that she was truly okay before he left.

Closing the door behind Booth, Bones let out a sharp sigh and made her way back to the living room and cleaned up the dishes that she had left on the coffee table. She wondered if she had done the right thing in allowing him to leave her alone after an evening like that; too many times she had allowed him to just walk away.

For a moment she just stood there with her dirty dishes wondering what to do. She could just stay in her apartment and do what would probably be the most rational thing for the evening and delve into something that could separate herself from her emotions and eventually head to bed and hopefully feel refreshed for tomorrow. Or she could…

She grabbed her apartment keys and went down the hallway to the elevator and saw him standing there, waiting patiently for it to arrive. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Booth?" Even though she felt like a nervous wreck inside, her voice was surprisingly steady and calm.

He turned around. "Yeah?"

She could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes again. Damn those pregnancy hormones, she thought. "Can you?"

He understood the intent in her question. "Whatever you want, Bones." He walked over to her and put his arm around her waist and walked back to her apartment.


End file.
